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Rest Stop: Don't Look Back, a review by Hal

Title: Rest Stop: Don't Look Back: Uncut
Year: 2008
Director: Shawn Papazian
Rating: NR
Length: 89 Min.
Video: Widescreen 2.40:1
Audio: English: Dolby TrueHD: 5.1, English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo, Portuguese: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:
Kelly Albanese
Michael Childers
Brionne Davis
Edmund Entin
Gary Entin

Plot:
One year ago, the mysterious Rest Stop killer drilled, ripped and splattered young road trippers Jesse and Nicole.

Now three more unsuspecting travelers come looking for the missing duo. And that means the killer gets to sharpen his horrific torture skills all over again - only bloodier and scarier than before. He's not alone, either. The Winnebago full of creepy living corpses is also back, roaming the old highway. And Jesse and Nicole's brutalized ghosts seek revenge, determined to give as gory as they got. Watch if you dare. But whatever you do, Don't Look Back!

Extras:
Scene Access
Feature Trailers
Jess' older brother Tom, back from Iraq, goes looking for him a year after he disappeared in Rest Stop: Dead Ahead.

Just more of the same blood and gore as in the original, but with a further explanation of the RV family and "The Driver's" seeming immortality thrown in.

Pretty much ho-hum in the acting department.  Not much reason to revisit this one in the future.

Rating:

(From Hal's 2010 Horror Marathon Reviews on October 2nd, 2010)

Dracula, a review by Hal

Title: Dracula: Classic Monster Collection
Year: 1931
Director: Tod Browning
Rating: NR
Length: 75 Min.
Video: Full Frame 1.33:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: Mono, French: Dolby Digital: Mono, Spanish: Dolby Digital: Mono, Music Only: Dolby Digital: 5.0, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles: English, French

Stars:
Bela Lugosi
Helen Chandler
David Manners
Dwight Frye
Edward Van Sloan

Plot:
This DVD edition contains three special versions of Dracula!

Dracula (The Restored Version)
Although there have been numerous screen versions of Bram Stoker's classic tale, none is more enduring than the 1931 original. The ominous portrayal of Count Dracula by Bela Lugosi, combined with horror specialist director Tod Browning, help to create the film's eerie mood. Dracula remains a masterpiece not only of the genre, but for all time.

Dracula (Featuring New Music By Philip Glass)
The original version of Dracula starring Bela Lugosi has been remastered to feature a specially composed musical score by world-renowned composer Philip Glass and performed by the Kronos Quartet. Glass' music lends greater depth to an already timeless classic!

Dracula (Original Spanish Version)
Filmed simultaneously with the English language version, the Spanish version of Dracula is a completely different, yet equally ominous vision of the horror classic. Utilizing the same sets and identical script, cinematographer George Robinson and a vibrant cast including Carlos Villarias and Lupita Tovar deliver this chilling and evocative tale.

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Feature Trailers
Featurettes
Gallery
Production Notes
DVD-ROM Content
New Isolated Music Score

Although there are some good scenes in this film, overall, I think this was overacted and way too melodramatic.  Legosi's handling of this role (even though it is the one he is best known for) is just too much for me and unrealistic to the point of being laughable.  The mood and setting of the film was good, but I think the "effect" of brightening the eyes of the vampires was overdone.  It is interesting how some of the mythos of Dracula was all established in this early film; e.g., fear of garlic, wolfbane, sunlight, crosses; lack of reflection in mirrors, death by wooden stake through the heart, changing into bats and/or wolves, having to rest in soil of the "homeland", sleeping in coffins during the day.  Some of these have endured the test of time; others have not.
I suppose given the age of this film it has many merits, but I cannot rate it any higher than a 3.

Rating:

(From Hal's 2010 Horror Marathon Reviews on October 16th, 2010)

Pete's Pilots, a review by addicted2dvd

Married... with Children


Pilot
In this pilot we meet Al and Peg Bundy, a very dysfunctional Chicago family. In the pilot, Al and Peg, who have no friends, meet their new neighbors Steve and Marcy Rhoades. Steve and Marcy are a very happily married couple until they learn from the Bundys.

My Thoughts:
Like that last one (probably even more so then the last one) this is definitely a dysfunctional family. This show has it's share of laughs but is another show that I like to watch when I am in the mood... but can only watch a handful of episodes before I tire of it. At this point I only have the first season set and a best of disc. The pilot episode sets up the series well. And it was funny how they "infected" their happily married neighbors.

My Rating:

(From Pete's Pilots on March 25th, 2010)